I was eight months old the day the seeds of the current Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento’s location on Sierra Drive were first planted in May of 1953. $110 (not to mention the explosion of births of children following the second World War) was the first indication this group of Sacramento Unitarians was serious about their futures as families and individuals in fellowship. This was a highly energized and passionate group of young families intent on building their collective futures, valuing a progressive fellowship in 1950s Sacramento.
Listening to architect Jeff Gold who recently spelled out for us the scope and nature of our own work to do master planning for the future of UUSS, I was especially struck by one phrase of his in particular:
“There needs to be a dialog between the Past and the Future.”
So on which side do I sit for this discussion? I was an infant during the genesis of UUSS on Sierra Drive, and my family and children are part of this congregation so that does give me a position to occupy, I suppose, as I would love for my children to have a UUSS to come home to as their lives blossom into their futures. And why, on UUrth, do we need to talk?
In the earlier part of the last century, Sacramento Unitarians agreed on basically one principal: They were a liberal religious community devoted to intellect, free thought, and community. This rings true for us today as well. What could we possibly have to talk about? From my read of the wonderful compilation of our history, In Good Times and in Bad; The Story of Sacramento’s Unitarians 1869-1984, it seems they had a problem with “The Vision Thing” (from George H.W. Bush) that long predates that seminal event of 1953 mentioned above. While they may have had no problem talking about their shared religious values, a certain number of them decided their needs were not being met, and expressed this by not attending services. While most members were talking about buying a larger traditional structure downtown, roughly a quarter of the congregation, mostly those living in the geographic center of the “metro” area decided they’d had enough of this old stuff and politely, and most lovingly, said their goodbyes, establishing a new fellowship in the Arden area of Sacramento.
An expansion of vision ensued once they recovered from the shock of those departures. I will not recount the details of this process – it makes for a great read – but it is worth noting that this gentle schism seemed to have captured a number of people’s imaginations, leading to a series of events that resulted in the building of our current campus between 1959 and 1960.
Those members with their new families, many of them our elders today, faced a number of decision points from which we can learn a great deal. In the latter stages of deciding on which property to purchase in the suburbs, they had a choice between a smaller and very adequate property slightly larger than half the size of the campus we now occupy. The smaller property would have been a more prudent choice, given the fact that Sacramento Unitarians, while politically liberal, were financially very conservative, and the congregation had never seen a time of financial ease, with ministers depending on outside jobs and support from Unitarians in Boston for solvency. Money was always a problem, and fund raisers notoriously lackluster. The Sierra Drive property, however, was able to contain the larger vision of the congregation they aspired to be, with our own Lou Watson providing one of the more forceful voices in favor of the Sierra Drive property, which was then purchased in 1957, with architects retained in that year.
As money was their historical problem, there were some hard feelings from some in that congregation based on a perception of rigidity and avarice among the congregation leadership, whom they perceived as valuing the structure and status of modern architecture over the community within. Giving patterns tended to follow low levels of giving for most of the 400 members, with a dozen or so members giving large sums. While there was demographic homogeneity in congregational composition, there was no such homogeneity in the realm of congregational support. This scenario made the idea of raising significant capital funds daunting, to say the least.
Our current campus is testament to the conscious joining of common vision and need by our campus founders. They eventually conducted a capital campaign that raised 30% in excess of what was needed by the building project projected at the time, and it is on this giant wave of common vision we have been riding ever since. Even our parking lot dates from our founders’ original building campaign, and we are well past the time when we should have been seeking their wise counsel for the health and sustenance of the property they established 50 years ago.
This article cannot contain the entire dialog we require with the past. Our past holds some vital lessons for us, however, and here are a few:
- Values and vision not articulated are values and vision not shared. As we look back at what came before we need to sustain a dialog with each other as we reflect within ourselves regarding why we do what we do, and what is needed in our structures to be most effective at it.
- Unity of vision cannot be assumed, and because it evolves we must remain in conversation about what our shared vision could be, and should be.
- In fifty years, today’s young families will be enjoying the legacy of the creativity and contributions they make now, and hoping the generations following will sustain the love and vision they shared, while seeking vision and clarity from their past.
Please join us in the many conversations to come. Please join hands not only as we celebrate our community in Sunday services, but as we tackle the hardscrabble, brick and mortar part of remaining in fellowship. We look forward to your ideas and contributions as we go forward with Master Planning and the ongoing preservation of the physical space we share.
Bill Storm
